by Kate Deming
Every November the PAC opens its doors to the student body, faculty, parents, and friends for the fall play, a beloved LREI event. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Director Joan Jubett and other faculty members were left questioning how they could bring the play to life in an online setting. Last fall, students put on an online production of Rhinoceros through zoom rehearsals, green screens, and lots of post-production work and editing. But now that LREI has returned to complete in-person learning and COVID-19 guidelines have shifted, how will students adjust back to an in-person production? How has the process changed?
This year, Director Joan Jubett has chosen Our Town by Thorton Wilder, a play set in the early 1900s following the lives of everyday people within a small New England town, for the fall play. Jubett has been teaching at LREI since 2016 and has put on productions from The Laramie Project to The Crucible but when reflecting on why she chose Our Town she explained, “I would have loved to do a ridiculous farce with lots of stage combat and physical comedy this year, but that felt too risky by the time the school year started (and with the Delta Variant on the rise). So, we chose to do a more muted and COVID-friendly play. In addition, ‘Our Town’ is a bit of a meditation on memory and community and deeper questions about what’s important, and that felt right for this year.”
LREI senior Zoe Karp, who plays Emily Webb in Our Town and has been acting in the LREI plays and musicals since 6th grade, revealed that “this production has differed from every past production I’ve ever done.” She continued, stating, “Masks are the big thing as opposed to all the other years that we’ve been in person, it’s not great to have the masks, especially for Our Town because everything is so subtle, and it’s very helpful to be able to see the acting choices, and the small emotions in your face.”
As opposed to last year during Rhinoceros, in-person rehearsals are back in full swing. Many actors and crew members have communicated differing views on the transition back. LREI Junior Jillian Walker, who plays Rebecca Gibbs as well as being an Assistant Costume Director, expressed, “I definitely have a newfound appreciation for long rehearsals. I feel before COVID-19, I would always be complaining about being at rehearsal, but now I’m happy for it! It doesn’t matter if we’re called until 7! We’re all together!”
On the flip side, LREI Sophomore Violet Wexler, who plays Si Crowell, explained, “It’s been a hard transition. You have to attend more rehearsals and really put in the work because you can’t refilm if you don’t like how your scene looks because we’re doing everything live again. But it has been great to have actual rehearsals, be in real costumes, have lights, soon perform for real people, and just see everything be able to come alive again.”
Although grateful for full in-person school and rehearsals, many cast and crew members have been experiencing fatigue adjusting back to a sense of “normal.” Director Joan Jubett notes that the most difficult part of the process has been “getting students to wake up their bodies and their voices. We’ve been physically and vocally hibernating for the last 18 months. We’re masked and muffled and we can’t see half of anyone’s faces. We’ve been isolated from one another. Our heads have been buried in electronic devices and sometimes it feels like we’re not sure we know how to talk with one another anymore. Students are stressed. Parents are stressed. Teachers are stressed. Personally, I’m exhausted after a full day of being in school with a mask on (and then I head into 3-hour rehearsals with a mask on). I’m sure the students feel the same way.”
Our Town is set to preview November 11th through the 13th, with four different performances. It will be the first live LREI production since before the pandemic. Despite the limited seating in retrospect to previous years, LREI students, parents, and faculty alike are eager to see this performance. “I’m so excited to see the play, it feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been able to see live theatre, and I know my friends and peers have been working really hard!” shared Shoshi Fine, an LREI Sophomore.
As the tech rehearsals and final dress rehearsals occur, and opening night approaches, Director Joan Jubett confirms “We get to tell a story together. You can’t fake a real connection or shared experience. It’s priceless and why I love to make theater. We need personal, live connections.”